Lost 40000 and remove from my app-

[window1shop2-sys]

Introduce yourself

Hello everyone I am new and I am trying to learn. I am here to get information and hoping we can do something about what happen to me
I hired a team to build an app for me” 1stEdition- the app was not even close to what we paid for. It seem we paid for a basic app, when our goal was to build a multiapp, I held the last 5000 because we wanted to see the source code to find out our developer put up an imaginary wall prevent us from viewing the source code. We offered the 5000 through a lawyer and place it as an escrow and still she refused - so my question is there anything we can do? How do I get control of our app. We are loosing another 40000 and it’s sad. But my questions are what can someone do to get this app to the right owner.

Links (optional)

No response

Where are you in your GitHub journey?

Brand new to GitHub

And where are you going next on GitHub?

We are looking at creating a new protection for the entrepreneurs form these tactics-

What technical skills or projects are you working on?

We started a company to protect businesses and even have a go fund me page.

Got a question for us? (optional)

Is there any protection or any rules that prevents developer from deceiving compost of fraud and extort money when we can’t see behind the business. Laws should be in place

[window1shop2-sys]

So as you can see, even our stripe account is not functional , I believe that a developer should place all the features we paid for before we release any money.

[thomaslee9874]

I think you've brought up a bigger issue that a lot of founders run into. Even with contracts and trusted platforms like Upwork, disputes over source code and ownership still happen.

At this point, the priority is figuring out what you actually own and have access to. Besides the app itself, check who controls the Git repository, cloud hosting, databases, app store accounts, domain, and any project documentation. An independent developer can review everything that's available and tell you whether the project can realistically be recovered or if rebuilding would be the better option.

One lesson from situations like this is that it's often better to build a long-term relationship with a trusted technical lead or advisor instead of treating development as a one-time purchase. Someone on your side can help prevent problems like this before they happen.

I hope you're able to recover the project and get it launched. If you need a second technical opinion on the current state of the project, I'd be happy to take a look at whatever materials you have.

[thomaslee9874]

If you have any questions, please let me know anytime.
You can contact me on Slack.
Slack invitation: Longway.dev

[window1shop2-sys]

Thanks- I found that the industry is continuing to use these tactics, and working against the consumer. Since I Started speaking we had a huge amount of people emailing us, and we are interested in raising awareness only if we get the facts. People have lost their money, elderly, veterans to scams- so we are putting together a list of names to call, for each developer that exist. Lawyers- court appointed developers that investigate these frauds- We are small but we will grow- thanks for the input, As for our developers we know then for 5 years and they fell into the wicked world of deception. Get Outlook for iOS <https://aka.ms/o0ukef> ------------------------------ *From:* thomaslee9874 ***@***.***> *Sent:* Sunday, 12 July 2026 12:45:25 *To:* community/community ***@***.***> *Cc:* window1shop2-sys ***@***.***>; Author < ***@***.***> *Subject:* Re: [community/community] Lost 40000 and remove from my app- (Discussion #201540) I think you've brought up a bigger issue that a lot of founders run into. Even with contracts and trusted platforms like Upwork, disputes over source code and ownership still happen. At this point, the priority is figuring out what you actually own and have access to. Besides the app itself, check who controls the Git repository, cloud hosting, databases, app store accounts, domain, and any project documentation. An independent developer can review everything that's available and tell you whether the project can realistically be recovered or if rebuilding would be the better option. One lesson from situations like this is that it's often better to build a long-term relationship with a trusted technical lead or advisor instead of treating development as a one-time purchase. Someone on your side can help prevent problems like this before they happen. I hope you're able to recover the project and get it launched. If you need a second technical opinion on the current state of the project, I'd be happy to take a look at whatever materials you have. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#201540?email_source=notifications&email_token=BXPGDJKAEJP6IOE5LAIIGHD5EPFDLA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZWGEZTSOJSUZZGKYLTN5XKMYLVORUG64VFMV3GK3TUVRTG633UMVZF6Y3MNFRWW#discussioncomment-17613992>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BXPGDJPMVLJYG5KBJUF2CJT5EPFDLAVCNFSNUABIKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHMZTAMJVG4ZTGNBUHNCGS43DOVZXG2LPNY5TCMBUGA3TONRRUF3AE> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>